About

Crescent Arts was founded in 1979 in the basement of Scarborough Art Gallery by and for visual artists in Scarborough, to provide studios, production facilities and professional development opportunities, while generating public and community participation through exhibitions and ‘hands-on’ creative activities. At the same time, it has initiated major partnerships and produced events with international impact including The Art Party Conference 2013, with the renowned artist Bob and Roberta Smith R.A.; curating Helen Sear’s work for Wales at The 56th Venice Biennale in 2015; developing a partnership with Forestry England to develop its arts strategy and commission new work by Helen Sear as the first artist-in-residence at Dalby Forest in 2017/18.

In challenging times, with the dual impact of Covid-19 pandemic and the culmination of the Brexit negotiations, Crescent Arts is embarking on the next phase of its development, reaffirming its mission to be a vibrant creative hub rooted in Scarborough: responding to the need for equity and social justice by nurturing diverse artistic talent, connecting people to art and artists, making contemporary visual arts publicly accessible through meaningful participation and enjoyment, and working to address the climate crisis and support climate justice. It has established an exciting new partnership with Scarborough Museums and Galleries, and will co-produce a public programme of exhibitions, workshops, artist’s talks and residencies.

The organisation has since moved out of the basement and works in a more community focused and nimble way, responsive to nurturing creative artistic talent and supporting critical conversation and work.

Vision

Crescent Arts, is a vibrant creative hub rooted in Scarborough: responding to the need for equity and social justice by nurturing diverse artistic talent, connecting people to art and artists, making contemporary visual arts publicly accessible through meaningful participation and enjoyment, and working to address the climate crisis and support climate justice.

Mission Statement

To advance understanding and engagement with contemporary visual art by establishing and maintaining a creative hub in Scarborough, providing exhibitions of art, workshops, professional development for artists, talks and events for the benefit of the public.

Core Values

• Anti-racist
• Committed to being a learning organisation
• Working towards a social model of disability
• Invested in the well-being of artists and our communities
• Prioritising the development of contemporary visual arts and artists
• Working to address the climate crisis and support climate justice

Funding

Crescent Arts receives regular funding from Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation. We rely on grants, donations and sponsors to help support our work.

AUE: Good Practice Charter for Artists

Crescent Arts is proud to announce that we have successfully applied to adopt the Good Practice Charter for Artists, which sets out how we will work with Artists. Click here to download the Charter.

Access

Crescent Arts works across various indoor and outdoor venues and are committed to make the spaces we operate from accessible to everyone. We understand disability within the Social Model. This means it is our responsibility to stop our spaces being inaccessible and are committed to making the spaces we work with accessible to everyone.

Access is a continuous learning process and responsibility to adapt methods and our programme to be truly accessible in both our physical and digital spaces.

With each event, workshop or exhibition, in a different venue we will provide access information.

We are always open to conversations with visitors/artists about their access requirements or queries, especially as this helps us improve our ways of working moving forward.

For Website Accessibility information, follow this link

To download our Accessibility Guide for Woodend Gallery click here.

Fair Pay

We pay the living wage, and aim to make sure our artist pay is in line with recommended levels of the Artist’ Union England and have adopted their Good Practice Charter for Artists. For more information click here.